Crime Committee Report e.indd - New York State Senate

Chapter 271 of the Laws of 2009
S.3401 HASSELL-THOMPSON, ADAMS, DIAZ, KRUEGER /A 7565 Aubry
E-Justice
Signed into law by Governor Paterson, this legislation permits sheriffs and local commissioners
of correction to expand the use of new identification technology in their county jails. Beginning
in 2010, the Division of Criminal Justice Services, as part of the “E-Justice Program”, will
no longer accept traditional inked fingerprints cards for processing. Instead, all fingerprints
will have to be submitted electronically through a system known as “Live Scan”. Prior to the
new law, there were serious legal questions as to whether county jail “Live Scan Units” could be
used to electronically print people who had not been arraigned on criminal charges. The new
law permits the Sheriff to bring civilians into county jail for fingerprints connected to pistol
permits, licenses or other needs unrelated to criminal charges. The new law saved counties the
expense of unnecessarily purchasing new Live Scan units and made it convenient for civilians
and sheriffs to expedite security checks and job applications. The new law would also permit
the local jails to electronically print arrestees prior to arraignment in a criminal or district
court. This amendment will expedite the process of making arrestees “court ready”, and save
tax payers the cost of unnecessarily purchasing and administering duplicitous services. This
legislation passed both houses unanimously.
Chapter 272 of the Laws of 2009
S.3402 HASSELL-THOMPSON, KRUEGER / A 8060 Markey
Crime Victims Awards for Children
Signed into law by Governor Paterson, this legislation permits certain kinds of awards that
could be made to child victims in the absence of physical injuries. In particular, awards could
be made for certain personal property damage, expenses of transportation to court, and counseling
expenses. Prior to this legislation, the law required that a physical injury be sustained by
a victim in order for a crime victim’s award to be made. There were a few explicit exceptions
for elderly victims, disabled victims, kidnapping victims and stalking victims. This law extended
the exception to children who may be witnesses to crimes or crime victims which did not result
in physical injury – but did result in property damage of emotional trauma. This legislation
passed both houses unanimously.
S.2490-E
Chapter 278 of the Laws of 2010
KLEIN, ADAMS, DIAZ, HASSELL-THOMPSON, C. JOHNSON, KRUEGER, MAZIARZ,
ONORATO, PARKER, SAMPSON, SAVINO, THOMPSON / A 3024-F Benjamin
Provides notice to municipal housing authorities whenever a sex offender is released to
public housing
Signed into law by Governor Paterson
In 1998, Congress banned subsidized housing for the most serious sex offenders after a
convicted sex offender was charged with assaulting and molesting a 9-year-old neighbor girl
who lived in the same public housing building. Also known as the Quality Housing and Work
Responsibility Act, this new legislation prohibited housing authorities from admitting any
household that includes a person subject to the lifetime sex offender registration requirement.
In March 2009, a report released by NYC Councilman Eric Gioia found 126 sex offenders
living in New York city public housing facilities, up 12% from the. year before. 42 of the City’s
3,432 registered sex offenders live in projects in Brooklyn, 37 in Manhattan, 26 in the Bronx, 8
in Queens and 3 in Staten Island.
More recently, a report by the Inspector General of the Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) Department, estimated that roughly 2,100-3,000 households currently residing in federally
subsidized housing include a serious sex offender. According to investigators, the primary
Standing Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction | 2009-2010 Report 47